Entry 7

Reading the revolutions made me reflect on the presidential debates of 2020. When I read that the French ignored their Indian allies and gave the land to the British, it reminded me of the promises that the candidates make. Unfortunately, most of those promises get lost along the way to the white house. Almost every president fails to meet his/her proposals to help the people. I remember that last year’s, when Trump was in office, he said that he was going to “handle the dreamers with heart”, but he didn’t. Those dreamers are still living with uncertainty of whether they will be deported. Some are even scared to continue their college education because it might end up useless if in the future they can’t work legally in the U.S. This is similar to what happened to the Indians. The Indians should have received French territory because they fought on the side of France. Presidential candidates promise and bring up the hopes of the people, but at the end of the day no one can be trusted. Like the Indians were ignored even when they were on France’s side, the dreamers are working and paying their taxes but they are still ignored. They haven’t received any additional help to define their futures. Sadly, the president that is chosen this year will control the lives of our families, our future students, their families, and their education. The most disappointing part is that we can’t trust someone because we don’t know if they are our allies, stand with us, or at least that is what they tell us.

 

Entry 6

After reading Columbus and the Indians, I realized that when the Indians were given the impossible task of finding gold, they were desperate to run away and escape cruelty. This is similar to what ELLs are experiencing inside of “bilingual classes”. Some schools expect students to thrive in a classroom that is bilingual when in reality the instruction is just in English and Spanish is used sparingly. Because ELLs are not receiving that extra help and guidance, they start to dislike school and give up on their dreams and education. This is what happened to the Indians when they couldn’t find gold. They gave up on the beauty of life. Another similarity is that Indians were tortured while the students are also being traumatized with standardized exams that they are not ready to take. We need more districts and schools that provide sufficient help to the students in order to learn a second language. During my observations, I saw that Pasadena ISD had intervention for students who were recent immigrants and this helped them understand the concepts that were being taught. As teachers, we have to fight for their well-being and for their education quality. We don’t have to set them up for failure like Christopher Columbus did with the Indians.

Entry 5

The podcast named how we say our students’ names…. and why it matters made me reflect on history and culture. I realized that it is important to learn our students’ names because it demonstrates respect and proves that they matter. It is sad to see that our world is becoming more diverse and teachers still don’t assimilate that. I believe that teachers should be responsible for learning the names in order to accept that the world is changing. The students might have names that are popular or meaningful for their culture, but when we don’t make an effort to get the name right, we decrease its value. Yes, it’s hard to learn and say a name that is not part of our culture, but it is doable. I recognize that some names are hard because they have pronunciations that we don’t use in our language, but practice can make a huge difference. It is not okay to call someone by another name just because we can’t pronounce his/her name. Throughout the years, the names are going to become more diverse and we will have to adjust to new and unique names. As technology has had much advancement and we love it, we should also love the process of learning new names. I personally remember that I had teachers who didn’t even try to learn my middle name. They would just call me F rather than Maria Fernanda. Other teachers would pronounce /F/ /E/ R/ /N/ /A/ /N/ /D/ and they would pronounce an O rather than an A. I always asked myself, “they got through the first 7 letters but couldn’t they have made an effort to look at the last one”. Teachers assumed my name was Fernando. This made me hate my name when I was younger. I would already feel embarrassed before the teacher even called my name because he/she would always pronounce a boy name.  This podcast opened my eyes and made me think about the importance of my future students' names. I will make sure that I look up or ask the student for the pronunciation to his/her name because it matters.

Entry 4

In the article “Teaching what really happened”, it was mentioned that students had misconceptions about the reconstruction because that was what they learned from the textbook. This made me realize that a similar situation is happening with the resources that bilingual students receive. I remember reading an article in one of my classes last semester. It mentioned that the resources that bilingual students are being exposed to are inappropriate. I recall that it was mentioned that the books and resources that students got had words that weren’t correct in Spanish. This was the case because the books were translated from English. Consequently, the students learned and adopted words that didn’t make sense.  This is a similar case to what happened to the students mentioned in the article. They were learning incorrect information because that was provided to them. The books were made from white supremacist viewpoints, therefore the content was not accurate (Lowen, 2009). I am amazed on how the inappropriate instruction that we give to the students shapes their ideas about the past. In the case of bilingual students, inappropriate textbooks lead to their lack of proficiency in Spanish. It is time for the board of education to choose up to date books. 

Entry 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epZeq_SJ6cI

In the article A brief History of Lawns, royal palaces turned lawns into a symbol of authority (Harari, 2017). People then saw lawns as a symbol for wealth, status, and political power (Harari, 2017).  After reading this article, a video named How a bombshell bribery scandal illuminates the ‘ corruption’ of college admissions came to mind. This video is about a scandal of ivy leagues admissions. A great majority of the students got admitted because their parents were wealthy. Not only were their parents wealthy, but also they had social status. In other words, admissions to Ivy League universities like Georgetown, Yale, and UCLA can be associated to wealth and power.  This is the same way that lawns were associated with authority and money years ago. Unfortunately, this scandal made me realize that having wealth means priority and preference. It was sad to hear that many talented and smart students were not admitted because children of famous people got in due to bribery. I can’t believe that people even got sport scholarships when they didn’t even play a sport. Throughout the years, it becomes more noticeable that money is becoming a symbol of control over ones future and other peoples' future. It is nerve-wracking to think about my students’ future. What will happen to their education if they can’t get admitted to an Ivy League university because they don’t have money?  Does this mean that their effort and accomplishments were a waste of time? Whatever happens in the future, I am ready to tell my students to not give up on their dreams.

Entry 2

The speech “A Revolution of Values” of Martin Luther King made me realize that in the educational system we have a war similar to the Vietnam War. While the Vietnam War lead to poverty among African Americans ( King, 1967), we have a “war” leading to poor quality of education among certain districts. It is sad to see that the education some students receive depends on the amount of money that schools have. It is clearly seen that the war we have today is that money is being invested on the border wall rather than on education. There is clearly more importance put on the border security than on the future of our country. This makes me think how sometimes we encourage our students to work in the technology and science field, but we don’t offer them the money necessary to become passionate about technology and science. Afterschool programs could be funded with the money being used for the wall. This would help our students discover their potential and love for the STEM field. This would not only ensure that our students have a better future, but in the long run it will be an investment for the country.

Entry 1

The first chapter of the Black ants and Buddhist is an introduction that implies teachers should teach in a critical manner. The author recounts the story of welders who helped car wash workers learn English. The car wash workers were learning English in an English survival course. This course was different than the traditional ones because they learned English while discussing their struggles. The narrator recounts this story on a response paper for a college assignment. The professor then introduces her to Paulo Freire’s pedagogy of the Oppressed. After reading through the book, the narrator realizes that students should learn from their daily interactions with the world and others.  She also agrees with Paulo that real learning takes place when the students are working with the teachers to construct new knowledge rather than the teacher having full control (Cowhey, 2006). The story proves that learning can be acquired through real life situations that the students encounter.   

            This article was interesting because it went beyond the ideal and common definition of teaching. Reading the article made me realize that as teachers, we can help the students to think deeply and learn the material in an interesting way. It makes more sense to teach with a true purpose. I understand that students struggle to pay attention because most of their coursework is not introduced in a way that is relatable to them. I believe that if more teachers worked hard to teach from this perspective, the world would be a better place and education would have a greater impact on the students. This chapter helped me realize that the education system needs improvement so teachers don’t only teach for tests but prepare the students for the future.

            I will definitely apply the information that I learned when I am in my class. I will try to learn from my students and they will learn from me. Teaching will be a mutual concept. During class, I will make sure to learn about my students’ interests and motivations. This will help me create engaging and exciting lessons. I am a true believer of modern lessons. They should make the students want to learn. I will also make sure that I am open to suggestions about how to teach something. This will make my students feel valued, they will learn the concepts, and they will learn how to use them in the real world.